A: Some U.S investors might be looking cautiously at China's precarious economy and wondering: Could the problem spread?

At the core of the fear is the fact a big part of the massive economic expansion in China was fueled by loose credit. And a good part of the credit issued in China financed the "somewhat unhealthy" real estate market, as well as local government projects, according to a letter from Matthews Asia to shareholders. "This has posed significant risk to the financial system" in China, Matthews Asia's note says.

Some investors who remember how the U.S. banking crisis spread in 2007 and 2008 might fear something similarly happening in China. Even investors who aren't directly invested there are vulnerable to collateral damage as China's economy slows down.

If the value of Chinese loans sour, and banks need to inject more cash, the Chinese banking sector could have a "liquidity crunch," and that could slow the pace of banking activity in China, Matthews Asia says. Even so, while Chinese banks might need to pull back loan activity, there's no sign yet of a "widespread banking crisis" there, Matthews Asia says.

The bottom line: Check your portfolio if you're invested in Chinese banks. If so, it might be prudent to cut that exposure. Otherwise, unless things change, a widespread global banking crisis arising from what's happening in China is unlikely at this point.